Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Climategate TKO in Copenhagen?

Today's London Times carries what might eventually be considered the most important headline in the world for the last twenty years -- and the most hopeful news for the next twenty years if it is correct:

Copenhagen Stalls Decision on Catastrophic Climate Change for Six YearsThe key decision on preventing catastrophic climate change will be delayed for up to six years if the Copenhagen summit delivers a compromise deal which ignores advice from the UN's science body.

World leaders will not agree on the emissions cuts recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and are likely instead to commit to reviewing them in 2015 or 2016.

The Times says that industrialized countries have not been able to agree to the draconian 25%-40% cuts in carbon emissions by the year 2020 demanded by the poor nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

President Obama has reportedly agreed to only a 4% reduction from the 1990 levels by 2020. Leaders of the industrialized world are set to arrive on Friday, the last day of the summit. It is speculated that if an agreement is not worked out in the next few days, some of the leaders may not bother to come.